Lakers late surge falls short against Spurs, 116-107

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers dropped their second home game of the season falling to the San Antonio Spurs, 116-107.

The Spurs led for much of the night taking control in the second half. Here a few things to take away from Friday night’s contest:

Third Quarter Struggles

Following a strong finish to the first half, San Antonio created much-needed separation in the third quarter expanding their lead to as much as 15 points in the period behind 14-of-19 shooting in the period.

Los Angeles closed the gap to four points in the fourth quarter, but San Antonio had a response for each run. They finished with seven players in double figure scoring, including the entire starting lineup while shooting 56.4 percent from the field with 30 assists.

Leonard flirted with a triple-double scoring 23 points with 12 rebounds, and seven assists. Aldridge also finished with 23 points on an efficient 10-of-14 shooting from the field with six rebounds.

“We came out good, but they keep executing,” head coach Luke Walton said. “They move the ball well. Anytime you make a mistake, they make you pay.”

Young Continues Strong Start

Through the first couple of weeks of the season, Nick Young has been a consistent offensive contributor for the Lakers.

Despite dealing with a cold, Young added another strong performance with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting including four 3-pointers, which marked his third 20-point outing of the season. He has also scored in double figures in nine of the first 13 games played.

He had most of his production in the second quarter scoring nine points which all came in final four minutes of the period helping the Lakers completely erase a 13-point deficit. Overall, it was a performance that further encouraged Walton about his the 31-year-old’s play.

“I don’t think it’s a shock and I do expect him to play this way night in and night out,” Walton said. “He’s our starting shooting guard and I’ve come to expect this to be how he performs for us.”

Bench Scoring Punch

With D’Angelo Russell out of the lineup due to a sore left knee, the bench once again stepped up outscoring the Spurs’ reserves 57-28.

It marked the 12th time in the first 13 games this season that their second unit has outscored an opposing team’s reserves.

Although Los Angeles fell short against the Spurs, the bench unit played a huge part in helping keep them in the game in the second half. Lou Williams and Jordan Clarkson provided much of that offensive firepower with 24 and 20 points respectively.

The duo combined for 21 of the team’s 31 points in the fourth quarter, including 14 from Clarkson on 5-of-7 shooting. The production from these two has helped them lead the league averaging 50.6 points entering Friday’s contest.

“It’s a huge strength for us,” Walton said of the second unit. “They do something for us every night.”

Bob Garcia IV

Bob Garcia IV is a sports journalist from Southern California. He's currently the Los Angeles Lakers beat writer for Sports Out West. He was previously the beat writer for LA Rams Report for Scout.com, which is a website dedicated to covering the Rams. Lastly, he was a reporter for the award-winning newspaper, The Daily Sundial, at California State University, Northridge. You can follow him on Twitter, @BGarciaivsports.